Lercher says SPÖ could form coalition with FPÖ in Styria

Styria’s Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) is open to forming a coalition with the Freedom Party (FPÖ) after the next election, party leader Max Lercher told ORF Steiermark on Thursday. He said cooperation was possible, “but not at any price.”

“For me, it has to be about cooperation in Styria. I cannot exclude someone purely for party calculations if they have 40 percent,” Lercher said in the ORF Steiermark summer interview with editor-in-chief Wolfgang Schaller.

Lercher said the SPÖ would insist on implementing its policies if it joined the state government. “Just governing and no longer saying anything is, I believe, the wrong way,” he said.

He added that the FPÖ should be challenged to help shape Styria’s development, despite its strong polling results. The SPÖ would demand a strategy for industry and the region’s business location, he said.

Lercher also referred to his proposal for a Styria Fund. “The idea is on the table. I do not yet know of another proposal from the state government,” he said. The SPÖ would accelerate efforts to strengthen the region’s location, development and jobs, he added.

Assessing the state government’s record, Lercher said the FPÖ had campaigned on a major promise of “systemic change”, which he did not see. He acknowledged a focus on folk culture but said it was not enough.

He criticised cuts in healthcare and said families were coming under pressure because of school assistance in education. “Promises are being broken there, and that is not what I expect,” Lercher said.